note to self.

via design love fest

here's a little known fact about me: i'm a list maker. i love lists. i love goals. i love crossing things off lists. i love accomplishing goals. annoyed yet? i have learned through the years of becoming a professional list-maker that the most successful way to get things accomplished is to be specific and intentional about a goal. for example, instead of "make an A on a test", you say "cate, you are going to listen in chemistry class. you are not going to cry. you are going to take notes, then study your notes, and study some more. you are going to take the test. and you are then, going to make an A." yeah, it's tough. accomplishing real problems no matter how small or big they may seem is not all flowers and butterflies. it's hard. it's easy to give up. it's easier to not even start. however, the reward is so, so much sweeter.

here are a few of my note-to-self's lately:

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1. don't take everything so personally.

aka, everything is not about you. people are often times too wound up in their own mess to even dwell on yours. 

2. people will disappoint you. 

the kicker here is to not let your standard of others be something they are not. my mom would always say "you cannot make a cat bark". and it's true. i've tried it.

3. do not judge a situation by how it looks on the outside and how it feels on the inside.

because feelings are only temporary & not the truth. and someone else's outside may be the opposite on how they feel on the inside.

4. smile, darn ya, smile!

you seriously cannot ever go wrong with smiling. ever. also, there is scientific proof (click here) that even if you fake smile, it will boost your mood and simulates something in your brain that allows you be happier over time of smiling. obviously, i am super scientific.

5. this world is not our home.

yet again, i need to remember that this earth and my time on it is only fugitive. not that it does not matter, but that we should find joy in that fact that we belong in a much more beautiful place-- and that my friends, is with Christ. oh, what a day.


happy friday!

yours truly,
cate